Led by four players scoring in double figures, including junior guard Caleb Fields with a game-high 19 points, the Arkansas State men’s basketball team picked up a 73-57 Sun Belt Conference victory over Coastal Carolina Saturday afternoon at First National Bank Arena.
Fields scored 15 of his 19 points during the second half, which saw Arkansas State (10-15, 2-10) make 13-of-21 shots for a .619 percentage to pull away from Coastal Carolina (10-14, 4-8) after leading by just four, 28-24, at halftime.
Terrance Ford Jr. scored 16 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, while Omar El-Sheikh also finished with 16 and Izaiyah Nelson added 10. All four A-State players posting a double-digit points total, along with Avery Felts, played the entire second half.
The Red Wolves ended the game with an overall .440 field goal percentage, which included eight made three pointers, while holding the Chanticleers to a .382 mark from the field. A-State took advantage of 15 Coastal Carolina turnovers it turned into 19 points and committed just eight turnovers itself.
The tightly-contested first half featured three lead changes and one tie, but the Red Wolves used a 9-0 run over the final 3:24 to take a four-point advantage into the break.
The Chanticleers were able to tie the score, 30-30, a little over two minutes into the second-half, but A-State responded with a 13-3 run at that point to claim its first double-digit lead with 13:04 remaining. Coastal Carolina was unable to get closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Red Wolves’ lead reached as much as 18.
Josh Uduje and Essam Mostafa led Coastal Carolina with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Mostafa also posted a game-high nine rebounds, helping the Chanticleers to a 37-31 advantage on the boards.
Arkansas State returns to action next week with a pair of road games, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Texas State on Thursday, Feb. 9.
